YOG - EPIC

Well i just came back from volunteering at YOG and it was epic, too epic for words. I learnt a lot as it was a brand new experience. I got to watch international ranking u-18 people do what they do best. The treatment for the work force there was amazing too. I can't believe i actually got to volunteer at YOG!!!

Back for Real...

Ok now i back for real. Term 3 Exams finally over! Today i will be talking about something quite related to our daily lives. The increase in certain aspects of bus fares so that those who ride long distance don't have to pay as much. However in my opinion this was a somewhat bad move made by the government.

In our modern society, people prefer to save time, and take faster transport. Most of the time, most of the people who travel long distance, would prefer to take bus to a MRT station then take MRT to their destination. For example, from Upper Bukit Timah to Jurong East it would take me 40-50 minutes by bus. With that time, i could travel from City Hall to Jurong East.

The mentality to waste less time and take the MRT is shared by most Singaporeans. For the working class, a few more cents wouldn't matter to them, both when taking MRT and bus. Their income would be more than enough to cover transport costs. However, the increase in bus fares affects one party the most - the elderly. Many elderly who stop working and have no income, live off from their CPF. However, they can only get so much money from their CPF every month. For the elderly, they tend to take the buses around for convenience sake to go buy groceries etc. This increase in bus fare may seem small at first glance, but for elderly people who take short distance bus rides and take bus very often, the small increase can amount to quite a large sum of money.

I fail to understand how the decrease in cost for the long distance rides resulted in the increase in cost for the short distance rides. If the government did it to encourage people to transfer bus more, i think that it is a dumb idea. Many of us have buses leading directly to bus stops near our houses, and this new system that was implemented a little less than 2 months ago does not help us at all.

We Want Our Old Bus Fare System Back! >.<

Flash + Floods = Flash Floods

As most Singaporean know and have probably experienced it themselves, Singapore recently has suffered from a series of flash floods. The reasons given by the government were numerous : clogged drain, caught off guard etc etc. The people are slamming the government for not helping to prevent the floods, and letting it happen it the first place. So who was in the wrong? In my opinion, both parties are in the wrong.

First I shall start with the people and how they are in the wrong. Right now, all they are doing is complaining about their lives and feeling sorry for themselves. The blame game is then started, blame the PUB, blame the government, blame everyone else. However they are missing one important party, MOTHER NATURE. The people keep blaming it on the government, but have they actually even thought thoroughly about it? Are they being reasonable? The rainfall in the morning of the first flood day, amounted to 60% of the total rainfall the previous month. Some people may think that it is just a bit rain. But think about it. Every 1-2 days it rains once, and each time it rains it is enough to leave huge puddles of water on the ground even hours after the rain has stopped. Add all that up in a month, and 3/5 of that amount of rain poured down on Singapore in one morning. We have to bring ourselves to admit that no one can predict it. If everyone thinks it is so easy, why not do it themselves? They keep saying that it is the government's responsiblity, but that is just a pathetic excuse to cover up for their own incompetence.  Mother Nature is not a political party nor a country. Singapore can't make a treaty or pact with mother nature. MN gets to do what it wants, and no one can stop it. If it decides to give us a whole load of rain in morning, what can we do? Songs dont work, bribes dont work, NOTHING WORKS. The only thing we can do is just stand and one side and take the shit coming towards us.

However i feel that the government is also wrong in a way. They should just stop making excuses and come clean. Actually, by blaming the floods on a clogged drain, they make it their fault that the floods happened. This is because that means that they are at fault for poor maintenance of the drains. However the government's excuse is quite hard to believe. The width of the drain is said to be equivalent to that of a SBS bus. Such a big drain is hard to clog up. Even if something of great length were to jam and clog the drain at one point, it will be quickly washed away by the mass of rushing water in the drain. It is hard to even find such big things big enough to clog the drains!

Both parties should just stop playing the blame game. The people should stop complaining and the government should start taking action. If you can't change what is happening, don't complain because it doesn't help. Those who are not part of the solution are part of the problem.

MRT gets new paint job!

Today i will be talking about the recent MRT vandal incident. The man was sentenced to caning and jail. Many people argue over whether the man deserved to be caned. As we all know, the caning is not the household type of caning, it is the torturous kind where people have the skin of their butts split each time it comes into contact with the cane. So the big question for all of us is that, did he really deserve the caning? In my opinion, he did not.

In my opinion, the graffiti was more like a work of art. It was interest and made the MRT look more interesting, instead of the usual boring plain colors. I think that if the government really felt that he needed to be punished, CWO or a fine would do just fine. People all want to express their feelings in different ways, and the man chose art as the way. As can be seen in our society, we are not given any space to put our creativity to use.

The government's stand is that all crimes cannot be left unpunished, and the man would get caning. But it was just some graffiti on the MRT, it isn't that big a deal. It does not endanger lives or anything. I think the government should look at the circumstances and punish accordingly. The results of the man's actions did make anyone unsatisfied what soever, and people even found it interesting. In this way, the graffiti was actually beneficial to the public. Imagine, you are tired after a day's work, and on the way back, you see a certain random graffiti on the MRT or taxi, it would somewhat lighten your mood, would it not? MM Lee says that if the man was not punished, they would have to "close shop". They still can punish him, just not so harshly. Many people fail to understand, including me, why the government just can't let this incident pass with a light punishment.

If they hope to make an impression on the man, caning is not the way. According to research, caning causes physical and mental scars, it also may instill anger in the person, spurring him on to commit the crime again, because of the humiliation and pain he suffered. This actually can backfire on the government. So i feel that the government should make decisions with more care, and not make decisions based on strict old traditions and rules. Times change, so do rules. Singapore needs a new look.

Boomz- Back from the Deadz

After a 2 month break from blogging, I'm back! Lots of crazy stuff happening recently.... Go figure =.= Can't wait to help out at YOG!!!

Term 2 Home Learning Task : We Slept With Our Boots On

Poem Chosen : We Slept With Our Boots On by Steve Carlsen

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell'

Steve Carlsen 

Task 1 - Background Research

Not a lot of information could be found as the poem is not exactly well-known. However, I might managed to find some background information about the writer, Steve Carlsen. 

From this website : http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Slept

About Steve Carlsen

Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the United States Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1^st battalion 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82^nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He was deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 2003. He is currently attending Southwestern Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.

Apart from "We Slept With Our Boots On", he has also written other poems such as "Take Your Pills" , "Thunder in the Valley" and "Death of a Hero". Based on what he has gone through during his years in the army, I think that the poem is mainly revolving around the experiences in Afghanistan. I infer that it is Afghanistan as the poems mentioned the soldiers getting onto the helicopter, and flying over mountains and valleys, which can be found in Afghanistan. Also, the most obvious hint would be the Hindu Kush.  It is actually a 500 mile mountain range stretching between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

---

Task 2 - Annex A Poem Analysis

1) Point of View: First person point of view

Evidence:  "They unloaded the dead “ "My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins / I run as fast as I can through the lead rain"

Elaboration: The pronouns used in the poems are all "I" and "Them" where he describes the situation in war.

2) Situation and Setting: In the Afghanistan war

Evidence: “Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot” “Lock N Load” “Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir” “Hindu Kush”

Elaboration: The word paratrooper quite obviously shows that the writer is a soldier. This is further supported by the phrases “Lock N Load” and “bullets are flying”. The first phrase is a common phrase used in war, whereas the second phrase describes the scene. The word “bullet” shows that there is fighting using guns. Also, it shows that the war is in Afghanistan from the mention of the soldiers in the helicopter flying over the Hindu Kush, which is a 500 mile mountain range between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

3) Language / Diction: Rhyming with every two lines. Common “warfare” way of speaking is mostly used in the poem.

Evidence: As there are a lot, I decided to copy the poem again and bold all of the ones that I am using as evidence.

We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell'

Elaboration:

We can see that it rhymes with every two lines, such as “eyes” and “skies” , “flew” and “clue”.

“They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood” Here the writer takes a famous saying and rebukes it.

The language used in this poem is quite plain, so to speak. The poet mainly writes things from his point of view, what he thinking of, what he feels. He does not seem to make an effort to use a lot of literary devices.

He also writes the poem in a negative tone towards war, and is quite pessimistic also. “The only reason I survived that day was divine” This phrase shows that he thinks that he survived only because of luck, and would die very soon. He feels that in war everyone is bound to die.

I feel that he just fights for the country without a lot of emotion for the country. “Everyone loses innocence when they carry guns” He does not glorify war, but instead feels that there is nothing to be justified, we lose our innocence when we carry guns and start killing people. It is not justified.

Mother Tongue - Is it needed?

Okay so i will be talking about the issue whether our mother tongue weighting should be reduced.  Personally I feel that it kind of should. There is a common view that chinese is very important as China is seen as a future global business hub. However, what if the person has no wish the work in China?

Basically i feel that mother tongue is basically kind of like your own cultural language. So, yes it is important, but i would say the other three subjects are even more important. English is currently THE language you need to know, maths and science are a given, since the two subjects are like the base knowledge.

Chinese, is more of preserving the culture within people, and preparing people for the future when China is the global business hub. However, we must take into account when China will become the center and whether the person himself or herself has any desire to work in China. Maybe the person wishes to further his/her career in other places such as germany? Thus i feel that personal wishes also mean a lot.

Also,I feel that mother tongue should at least be changed in how it is taught or even make it optional. At the moment, student are being taught how to write the letters(as in the old-fashioned paper put into post box kind of letters), both formal ones and informal ones. But, take a good look in our environment right now. Who uses letters? Now people use e-mail, sms, where positions of address are not needed, simply because with the WWW, you dont need to have a fixed address! This is a plain waste of time in my opinion. Also we are forced to learn Cheng Yu, but if we take a look into our future, will we even use it in our daily lives? I feel that many things that are taught are very unnecessary and should be removed from the system altogether.

Romanian Embassy

Hi i'm back after a long period of rest! Well not really rest, but nevermind.

This time i will be talking about the roman embassy guy that knocked down 3 people, killed one and sent two into coma. I feel that immunity should NOT even be considered in these type of cases. Why should he be given immunity? If we think of it in simple terms, it is not that hard to come to conclusion.

First let us see the problem, people are deciding if the guy should be granted immunity. But, he was the one driving, he was drinking, and he killed somebody. He killed somebody, took another life. Isn't the outcome the same? Why must we think that " he killed someone in another country"? It is still another person, on this planet, and that man had absolutely no right to take his life, especially because of drink driving.

Obama and His successes

Well today i'm going to talk about Obama. We all see newspaper articles about how Obama is failing miserably. However, the moment he hits a breakthrough, like the nuclear arms cut down, everyone goes "wow, what a successful guy!".

Thus I feel that we should change the way we look at him. As citizens, we should not see short term. We cannot expect a president to make quick massive changes in such a small amount of time, especially at this period of time. When Obama came into action, he had to deal with the economy crisis, and he certainly cannot fix the problem in a matter of days. Look at our current economy, it is still so shaky. To expect him to make the world a lot better in a matter of months would just be plain unreasonable of us to do so.

We should look long term. After a few years, we then look back and think about what he has really done so far. When we think about it, we should put aside all negative points first, as it will derail us. First look at all the good things he has done, like draft up the plan for economic recovery, saving the banks etc. Then we look at what he has done wrong. Does the good outweigh the bad? or vice-versa? Only then can we judge if a president has truly done his job or not.

E-Learning Task B (Visual/Spatial)

Obituary for Mrs Dubose (character from TKAM)

Its not very good but i think i tried my best, feel free to laugh.

E-Learning Task B ( Music )

Poem on Tom Robinson:

A mockingbird has just died,
Died even though it had done no wrong.
No wrong deserving of even a single scolding,
Yet it was mercilessly killed.

It was merely flying through the forest,
Singing with all its heart for us.
It had committed no sin,
Causing no inconvenience to us.

However when the time came,
Someone wanted to hunt.
A mere act of bragging,
To show off to his friends.

A target he needed but could not find,
One that was hard to shoot and could not hide.
 And when that little mockingbird happened to be there,
With a sound of a shot it dropped dead on the floor.

My MI Profile ( Multiple Intelligence )

I feel that the test overall was quite accurate. I always had better body coordination than others ( told to me by others) and I was usually able to visualize scenarios etc. However, i feel that music should be higher than it is shown. I had always been able to remember very well the music that i listen to, only after 2 or 3 times. As for the people smart i kind of concur, but i am quite surprised that it is that high as i am not exactly the very sociable type of person. Thus I feel that this test somewhat effectively pointed out my weaknesses and strength in a few mere MCQ questions.

Friends

"How do you know who your real friends are?" is one question that i would love to ask popular kids my age. Real friends cannot be seen at first sight. Like all of us, there is more to us than meets the eye.




There are many types of friends. Some be around you when everything is good, no troubles , no nothing. Real friends are ones who are willing to suffer with you, going through good and bad. When you have a flaw in your personality or you made a mistake. They will not turn on you or make you look bad. They would tell it in your face nicely and try to get you to change. '



Usually, the best way to find out if someone is your real friend or not, is to go through hard times. Those that leave are fakes. Those that are with you to the end, are the ones who deserve your friendship. Popular kids have many friends, but how many have REAL friends? Surprisingly, from most experiences read from books, most real friends of popular kids are their best childhood buddies. Going through long times together are the long term ways to see real friends.

Technology

Today i will be talking on technology. Do we control technology or is it the other way round?


To me, i feel that in some way technology has control over us humans.



Technology can be represented by revolutionary inventions such as computers, handphones, iPhones etc. Without us knowing it, we have already been under technology's control, as we have depended too much on it. For many teenagers, handphones are the gateway between them and others, and that they could not live without it. We find ourselves at great risk if we did not hav traffic systems , banking systems etc. Our whole world would fall into techno-chaos.



In my opinion, i feel that to control something is to be able to make use of it, yet live without it. Technology is now an essential part of life, allowing us to be able to invent new medicines for curing illnesses etc. Some say that technology is the only way for us to survive. Unlike other animals, we advance in our technology , but we ourselves are unable to advance genetically/ adapt to our current world situation. Which is exactly why we need technology.



We should never let anything control us, or depend too much on something. However it is already too late for us to turn back. So let us wish for the best x3

Casino: Good or Bad?

Well as most people would know we have the Integrated Resort "package" coming up , which comes with a big casino!




Today, the question is:

Support the casino or not? What are the hardships caused?



It is a difficult decision but i think that i support the making of the casino. However, i do not agree that casino is all good no evil. There is a bad side to it evidently.



In this time of depression, the casino will increase the cash flow of the country, and bring new job opportunities. With is pretty good news for those who loss their jobs.



Unfortunately, many people are somewhat pessimistic. They think that this casino is will destroy families etc. Many go by the mindset that gambling destroys people. However that is not all accurate. It is true that there is a possibility that people might get addicted, spend the family's wealth away, the classical case.



The true problem is uncontrolled gambling. The casino has no rules saying that once you go in you must spend every penny you have then you can leave. That's why there

are government movement campaigns.



Casino's are for gambling. However, that are two ways to gamble.



Gamble for fun is the harmless way. You just give yourself a budget, say 1 thousand dollars, if you are well off enough. Then when you spend it all, or reach your time limit and leave with some money left, you're good to go.



Gamble for money. however, is the way that destroys families. The people go in hoping to win big. They lose, and still want to win big. That is when the problem comes in --- debt. They then get into trouble with the loan sharks and all types of bad things happen.



Casinos are not bad, you just have to go there with the right mindset!

Looter shot by police

I would like to talk about the recent incident of a girl ( who was a looter or might have been ) shot by police. Some say it was on purpose, others say it was a warning shot gone astray and also whether looting is correct.

Well firstly i feel that it is ridiculous that people say it was on purpose that the police shot her. The whole world is out to help them get out of this crisis. This is a relief effort, the police didnt come to shoot people, they came to HELP. Besides you cant be sure if the police did it on purpose, so they should not just to conclusions so quickly, making the police the bad guys, when they are actually helping out in the relief efforts.

When we come to the root of the problem, it is all about the looters. I do not think what they are doing is correct. They are not the only ones who are waiting for food. Everyone is desperate, everyone wants to get the supplies. What gives them the right to jump the queue and loot the supplies? I feel that they should wait like everyone else, and that looting is an extremely selfish act.

Prison + Luxury? That's a no-no.

Well the article on this incident is extremely long. Long story short? An indonesian woman in jail bribed the prison individuals into making her prison life into a 5-year long hotel stay. Her prison cell is probably 5 times nicer than my own room.... *no comment* Do you think this should go unallowed? Letting a woman stay in a 7-star hotel prison cell, enjoying premium food and private toilets, while others share cells, share toilets and live in a -3 star prison cell? In my opinion, this whole thing is just plain WRONG.

Firstly, why are people sent to prison? They are sent to repent for the crimes that they have commited and in the process if they still are really stubborn, a dirty prison cell is chucked in to add salt to the wound. Not my cup of tea i would say.However, when we look at this woman, it is like she is living in a free hotel with good services, and why is that so? Because she had money to bribe. I think that if you dare to do the crime, you should do the time for it too. But this woman treats it like it is nothing, even having a meeting room for herself. I find this absolutely ridiculous and should not be condoned. In my point of view, I think that she should have her sentence doubled and brought to a normal cell, where she will have to live in prison like everyone else does

However if we look at the root of the problem, who allowed all this to happen? The corrupt officers. I feel that if crime rate is to be lowered, we must make sure that the ones who are in charge of doing so are pure and not corrupted. If they were, would it not just make everything worst?

MOE ah MOE, do we really need "this"?

This is one topic i have been dying to share about :P. The "this" i am talking about is chinese paper 1 ( in secondary school ). In secondary one, i stepped into my classroom only to find out we were going to be doing letters, such as private and business.

Well i just really do not like the fact we have to learn about private letters since it does not have any real life application. In our age, when we talk to each other, it's either calling, SMS or MSN. Letters? That's so out-dated. Furthermore, the topics we write about are like, persuading someone to not quit school, to get someone out their addiction. Let's face it, we don't talk about things like that between friends. That's why now counsellors exist, to guide and help people who are in need of mental support and guidance that their parents cannot give. I mean, probably we ourselves have problems of our own, like a lazy attitude etc. Are we really in the position to help others out when we cannot even help ourselves?

As for business letters, people mostly use e-mails and the format is provided for you. Letters would take so long to travel to one another, and with the current tools we have, who would even be in the right mind to use letters to communicate? E-mailing is definitely the way to go. We are told to memorise formats etc etc. However, if it is provided, why memorise? ( waste of time, is it not? )

I mean if they say we need to intergrate ourselves with chinese , i would not mind learning about chinese history etc, at least it's interesting. So i feel that MOE should change their way of teaching to more effective method.

Too Little For Haiti?

Well as most of you would know there has been an earthquake in Haiti, destroying homes and families, real tragic. However this particular image taken from the Straits time made me really curious. It shows the contributions made by multiple countries. So lets take a look:

So from this we can see that most major nations are being your friendly neighbourhood helper. As we go down the list, the figures are pretty big, impressive. Then at the bottom of the list. We see US---- THE SINGAPOREANS ( well our government ). Fifty thousand for the relief efforts. Compared to other countries, isn't that figure real pathetic? I mean, even a single private company raised more funds than that, surely the government can do better?

Lets look at the possible reasons for this pathetic donation:

1. Singapore is in bad financial times?

Answer: I wouldn't think so, with all the celebrations going on about the recession being over and everyone is happy. Besides, worst come to worst, there is always the reliable national reserve isnt there? ^^

2. An important ratio procedure to follow?

Answer: Quite possible. But i do not think it would be so strict till we can only donate a five-digit figure. Since when was Singapore such a poor country? NEVER.

3.Worries of misuse of funds?

Answer: Well we cannot really blame them for worrying that way. However, it that is the case, why not send medical help and people to help out? So i do not think this is a valid excuse.

In the end i can only presume that singapore government just did not want to donate that much.
Anyone disagree?

File Hosting!

Today i just read an article in the straits times on file hosting sites such as megaupload and rapidshare. The movie industry voiced their concerns about these websites because people upload the episodes/movies(might be pirated) onto internet and let them watch at extremely low prices. Basically, their worried because they lose money from this.

There have been speeches that say file sharing is bad, as it destroys profits of movies, that is a bad thing to do and cannot be condoned. However i tend to disagree. When i look in the point of view of the movie makers, sure it's bad, since i would lose money and my wallet would be thinner.

However looking the point of the viewer, it is not a bad thing. In this world there is naturally rich and poor people. Poor people may not be able to enjoy the luxuries of an extremely big hit show, however with file sharing, they will be also able to enjoy it, at a lower affordable price for them. This kind of makes it fair for them, to make up for them not be able to see it in the theathers, dont you think?

Thinking long term, especially for those movies with sequels and prequels, this in some ways actually is good for them (in my opinion). If more people were to be able to watch it, the movie would get more publicity. Also then, when the movie makers released out a trailer, those who may have watched the prequel, may find it worth saving up for, to watch in the theathers. Thus there may be more viewers. Of course this is assuming the people wont just watched the pirated version. But if the movie really was good, wont people want to watch it on a big screen?

Loansharks and the borrowers!

For the first topic in this blog, i shall talk about the article mentioned in the straits times on the 13 January. It mentioned that there was a proposal of the idea that to try to stop the loansharks and the borrowing of money, the idea of counting the people who borrow the money as criminals was brought up. There was some who agreed to this and while others did not. What do you think?

For me i find that this idea is unfair to the borrowers and should not be taken into consideration. Why? First i feel that we ought to put ourselves in the shoes of the borrowers. People know full well that loansharks are bad, especially from the bad image created by the press and media, where loansharks kill, set houses on fire to those who dont pay up. However, people will still end up borrowing money because they are desperate, they have no one else to turn to but the loan sharks and can only put up with the killing interest rate.

At this point you would think, why not just ask bank for loan? Well it would be a pretty naive thinking that banks just give loans out like water. Banks will give loans to people who they are very confident will pay back. But if the person's future or past didnt look all that bright, theres a good chance that the bank wouldnt give a loan. Also it might not be the person's fault that he/she is in dire need of money. It could have been for the sake of a family member who had gone haywire, but still very important to he/she.

One scenario could be, a pretty poor family were getting along just fine. They had stable jobs, their kids were studying, getting average results, basically your average joe family. However, what if a kid just made one mistake and landed himself a debt and did not have the financial means for it. Naturally the parents would still want to save him, since he is their flesh and blood.
However, what if the bank was not willing to give them a loan? Who could they turn to? Loan-sharks. This is because loan-sharks operate much simpler. They give you the money, charge you the interest, you pay back the money, everything is good. The only problem would be if the payment was not fast enough.

So from this i thus feel that we should make it harder for loan-sharks by tracking them down etc. ( singapore police is good of course ^^) Whereas the government could help the families who are in unfortunate situations more, preventing the families from turning to loan sharks. In this way, business will go downhill and loansharks hopefully will be discouraged from going on any further!

P.S. Please comment ^^

Why do i blog?

Well for all those who are curious about me ( which i doubt there are any), here is why i made this blog. Basically i usually have A LOT of opinions about things happening around me, and i sometimes cant help but express it!( Nothing offensive of course) Thus I'm using this blog as the tool to do so.

First Blog Post!

Hi Hi all!

Not exactly sure who or if ANYONE even reads this, but hi. Making this blog for my sec2 life. Pretty boring when there are some things that you cant tell your parents and there isnt anyone else around you for you to share it with.

On this blog i will be posting my various opinions of different articles or books i read.